Protesters call on top First Nations leader to step down in light of sexual assault allegation
CBC
Dozens of people gathered outside the Portage Avenue offices of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs calling on its Grand Chief Arlen Dumas to step down in light of an allegation of sexual assault.
Dumas was suspended from his position last Friday after the allegation that he sexually assaulted a colleague became public.
An outside party will lead an internal investigation at the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, while police said on Friday that an incident number has been generated. No charges have been filed.
People who gathered in front of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs headquarters said they don't want the chief to be paid during the suspension, and want to know what kind of support is in place for women.
"For me, when you're in a position like that, you shouldn't treat anybody like that. You're supposed to be for all the people, your 63 nations that you're supposed to advocate for," said Sophie Lockheart, a band councillor for Fox Lake Cree Nation, who said she would like to see Dumas step down.
Kristen Mckay said she decided to join the demonstration to show solidarity with the woman making the allegation.
"I felt it was unfortunate that our leader was implicated in such abusive demeanour towards our women. For me, that hurt me a lot, just to know there's a very large number of women staff that work here," she said.
"So I wanted to come and stand here and give them my support."
Mckay added that she thinks its crucial for women to stand together when allegations like this come forward.
"These are the things that women have the hardest time talking about," she said.
"So us being here today, we're here to let women know that they can speak freely about this so they can begin their healing process."
The executive council of chiefs is set to meet on Monday to appoint an acting grand chief.
Windsor-Essex, Chatham-Kent and Sarnia can all expect between 20 and 40 millimetres of rainfall this weekend.
More Alberta seniors are now eligible for a provincially funded RSV vaccine.
More than 100 workers at a steel plant in eastern Ontario are being laid off either temporarily or permanently, as a company with facilities in Quebec and Ontario cuts its workforce due to challenging market conditions — including U.S. tariffs.
A small town northwest of Thunder Bay, Ont., has become the unlikely home for hundreds of foreign workers, but many may have to leave the community they've embraced after the end of a federal program put in place to fill gaps in Canada's labour market.
There's mixed reaction in Waterloo to an injuction allowing police to detain, arrest and charge anyone who is participating in unsanctioned street parties in that city this weekend.
Diabetes Canada is excited about Prince Edward Island's new pharmacare deal with the federal government, but hopes the province will reevaluate copays on diabetes supplies, says a senior manager with the organization.
After 26 years of accommodating guests from across the world, Faith Embleton says she and her husband Ken are ready to sell their bed and breakfast.
A group of big-name companies including Google, Meta and Dow have signed a pledge to support tripling the world's nuclear energy capacity by 2050, a signal of the technology's growing resurgence in popularity.
Five years on, Toronto-area doctors and public health officials are looking back at what they've learned since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — and most agree the early experience will prove useful if the city faces another infectious disease crisis.
City staff would like Londoners to take a good look around their home and ask themselves a direct and possibly difficult question: Could everyone in your family survive at home, without leaving and with no other help, for a full 72 hours?
Liberal Leader Mark Carney will officially become Canada's next prime minister within a few hours, taking the reins as the country barrels toward a general election and continues to fend off verbal and economic attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Recent cyberattacks in Newfoundland and Labrador should have been a wake up call for the federal government about the reality of an increasingly hostile world, says one cybersecurity expert.
A recent CBC News analysis found that Nova Scotia is rapidly losing some of its most affordable apartments, but housing experts say there are ways to prevent that.